Compression rail-joint spring



` oct. 2s, 1930. J. D, COWAN 1,719,802'

. Hxf f I COMPRESSION RAIL JOINT SPRING V Filed Nov. 29, 1929 2 ShetS-Shee' 1 n [hvenzor ,cfames D. Cowan Oct.. 28, 1930. y 1 D; COWAN 1,779,802

COMPRESSION RAIL JOINT SPRING Fired Nov. 29, 1929 f 2 sheets-sheet 2 fnl/enf@ 7^ Patented O ct. 28, 1930 Y JAMES D. cowAN, `0E SUMMIT, NEW JERSEY, ASSIGNOR To THE NTNAL' riesig"WAsitiiaa COMPANY, or NEWARK, NEWl JEESEY, A CORPORATION 0E NEWJEE'SEY ooMrEEssroN 'RAIL-'JOINT sIfRING 'f -elipiicafcin filed November 29,. ieee. vseraiiruv4110,4015.

-This invention relates to compression rail joint springs that are placed beneath the nuts driven on bolts that pass through the splice bars and thewebs of meeting railroad rails,

so as to holdthein to gauge, particularly dur#y ing thepassage of Vheavy loads. 1

Devices known yas 'compressio'nxspring Washers that are iin the form ofhelioal seg-` mentsareusually employed for this purpose,

but their range of reaction is limited, and the object' of thelprese'nt invention -is to provide astructure :bywhich an increase in the range of reaction can be obtained, both at the lower and the higher pressures put on the yrail kjoint bolts, it being understood that, Whether such reactionisundera higher a lowl p ressure,

l-springsarefinade, &c. f f Y 'il 4AAnother obj ect of the invention.

requirements vrwill be observed similar to thoseattachingto the ordinary Spring Wash-V ven -as to load, unt'stress,-design ofsplice-bar,v

bolts, andthexmaterial f from' which the vide a simple economical means Vforjkeeping the railjoints tight and under uniform ten-V sion Ybyicompensating:for Wear otbolted parts; and possiblyl thelengthening of bolts due to stretch or expansion. further obj ect of the invention is to prevent. the) nut `.from baclng off `by maintaiib, ing high pressure-against the under side of the'nut.- 1f

LPr-still 'furtherobject is to permit'ot the readyfequalizing and adjustment of pressures exerted'k upon the joint by each: of the-bolts thereof, this being due to the 'fact that the construction of spring employed is: capable p offexerting high reactive'pressuresupon the rail joints throughout -a range equalfto; or

greater.` than any probable variations lin` .lengths of bolts or bolted parts due tostretch,

expansion, Yshrinkage or -Wear andtear. v

i 'reedl from. a load naturallyrfresults in.-

creasing the deectionof suchspring 'under a load, and vice versa. The deection and 1re; "actioni of, the usual r form. of compression spr-ingiw'ashe'rs may vbe increased orqagiven laat-land a' givenfmodulus 'of elasticityor a gvenfztorsonal' modulus; without increasing the Vunitfstress on the.V by increlzasing i the'v length or decreasing the. moment of in- .v

, moment ofin'erti-ainthe case ofv vvashers that 'are ymade in the form.ofihelioalsegmentsf in a ratic such as isindicated by thefexpres* sions for determining the delectionfof beams.

vrand helical springs Whenfloadsjare applied. Increasing the number o'f convolutionsin ahelical spring-Washer necessitates an increase in the len'gthfof the bolt to the extent' thatthe bolt length ,Would be objectionable..

- yDecreasing .the polar mementof inertia in a helical spring, Washer may, of course, be accomplished-by hanging vthe width fand thickness', in the l`eveifitjthe cross section vis rectangular; which is .generally the Cross secsz tion used or itfrnay bedecieased by chang.

- ingthe shape o 'f the cross seetion butwhethe" the polarmoment is ref lnfc'edV hyphanging the is to prof dimensions or the shape, thereV are eertainy limitations inf-this respect': 4for V4instance, the

designjet the splice plate against Whic'lnthe ofthe section, andrtherefore', Yincreasing the reaction ,for a given load range could not, bev brought about-,if-the-width of the-section used.I Was the maximum A'permitted by '1 the splice plate," and this is generally onndto.'

moment of inertia as the sections arenot large enough' to vp tionL^-1-'.j;1f j .v-.ByY-studyingthe compression Washer design, it @Will-be* seenf that, vvs fhile its; length is flimitedfto'the bolt'spacingand its width is limited to thedesignof vthegsplice `plate of the Increasing the reacto of Hspring Whenirail vjoint itv has `lesslimitations than-the vheli-v cal-springwashe'r when it is'desired to getv an "Referringito the; accompanying drawings I' form of the invention applied to a splice bar, one of the bolts being sectioned- Figure 2 is a section at the line 2-2 lof Figure 1- Figure 3 is a detailed side elevation of the form ofthe invention-illustrated at Figures land2- Figure 4 is a view similar to Figure 3 but showinga different forni of theinvention,-v

A'Figure 5 isf`a section at the line ,5445 of Figure 4- n Figure 6 is a view like Figure -2but showing the rail joint spring illustrated at Figures 4 and 5, the spring being underfcompression* Figure 7 is a view like Figure l, but showing ai modiiedform ofthe invention-# Y Figure 8 is a section at the line 8-8 of Figure7,and" A i-' 'L y f Figure 9 is a detail perspective'view'of the spring shown at Figures 7 and 8.,: l

n Similar numerals of reference denotelike part's in theseveral ligures of the drawing. Y Referringto Figures 1, 2 and-3, l'repre-l sents the railroadrails, and12 the 'splice vbars applied thereto in theusual manner.

3 represents the compression rail 'joint spring which is'made from channelstock and is bent into shapejso that the-bent portions are opposed to each other and form a Vstructure that is elliptical lengthwise. Themanufacture of this structure-from channel stock renders itneeessary to cut away the stock ,at the point of Vbending and also at the forward ends as shown respectively at 4, 5, and the side edges of the two sections o'f thestructure have inwardly extending lip' portions 6, which constitute quite an important feature of the inventionpf', 1 -W The sections of the structure are provided with holes 7 at their-middle portions,for the accommodation of the bolts 8 and these holes are somewhat elongated in order tor-make allowance for the-movements' of the elliptical structure under compression and reaction;-v

"This construetionshown at Figureis applied; in the manner shown i atA Figure 2, and

' there are, of course, two of such constructions,

' are precisely.

' Referring onea't'each en d of1the'splice.bar,and as they alike, a description as-to one willv suiiceff I Y j 1 V jo Figure 2'the: structure is shown under compression which will cause the lips -6 to Contact at both ends of th-stru'ctr-,and as y the compression increases', it will be' 'clear that these vlips will'fgreatly 'add to the stiffness and the `conse rg1ln=ntv resistancefof the structure to compression, tand; fas'. the' f l eompressioii 4approac'hes a maximum the sections will tend' to -lattenfoutrandftheleXtreme ends''ofthe 'struc ture will be spaced further apart;

Y This 'ompressionarail joint: spring :isfi'nr Y tially compressed tojf asuitab-le f (degree :by

means of a track wrenchthat is appliedto a nut Q ;driven'on"the-threaded4 end of the'bolt 8 kagainst the spring. y During the passage of` heavy loads over the rails the sections of the spring will be compressed, but their recovery after a load has passed will be greatly enhanced by the presence of the lips 6, and at the same time there willralwaysbe a greatV pressure exerted against the nut which will preventany backing of the latter off the bolt.

Referring to Figures l4,A 5. and 6, theconf,

str uctiony therein shown is concavofconvex'in" cross section andis lcut away at the point of bending as shown at 10, and the sections of the spring formed after bending and shaping will presentan'elliptical shape in cross section as shown at Figure 5, with the side edges of the sections forming lips l1 that extend inwardly toward each other and are normally-spaced apart. y W

This construction shown at'FiguresA4 and'v also has holes-1 2 formed inits sections for-the admission of the boltsfandgwhen tjhis'conV struction is' applied Vin the manner 'shown f at Figure'G vand isplaced under compression, these lips -11 will have arolling 'contact-witheach other'and the sections willtendto flatten' out underthe stress 'caused by the. passingof yheavy loads on the rails, but whenthisstress' is relaxed the recovery 'offthisl particulargform of the invention will'be greatly assisted bythe stiffness of the sections that is" caused bythe n presence of lthe inwardlyl extending lipsl1'.

vReferring toFigu'res'?, 8, and149, the'construction shownv isi similar tor-that? shown at F-igures'4, 5 and 6,"except'v thatfthe blank from which "the spring is formed? is'fbent llength`- wise instea'do'fll crosswise, the lipsalonglvone edge merginginto the beiidl- 113,1'fwhi1e along theother edge are lips 214 thatV- eirtend` toward each other;

It will thus be 4notedl'thatl theactioni-of the three forms o'fthisjinventiontillustrated atfFig'ures 3, 4'fa`nd9 is quite similar and-'that in all instances theinwardly extending lips constitute affeatureivof ythe invention', Yand therefore it' is immaterial whether the .strucf ture is elliptical lengthwise'or crosswisie'.'

If the crosswise elliptical constructiony 1s its us'ed'Vthe: fold can be 'at one endas shown by l Figures;4,z 5 'and 6, or itl can be'lengthwise zas shownfin Figures 7,8, and 9, and in this'latl ter construction vthe fold'takes the place-of the inwardly extending lipsalongfone side. In this wayfit is possible tohavelagreater amount of metal alongthe axis through fthe bolt hole where themaximumbending mo! ment occurs undercompression,than-is possif ble in .a vdevice whichis elliptical lengthwise. It can, therefore, be subjected -to` a 'greater bendingv stressV without the probability gfof 1 breaking than' :can ythe",device' which is ellipticallenghwise."f-f"- f -Y All of the constructionsf above vare Vformed by 'bending-'tan elongated andsubstantiallyl rectangular VVVmetal lblank crossw-ise or lengthwise atl-its middle, an'dftherelfo'rethe compressible members of all structures .arey opposite each other and are Connectedatone end or side by an integral bend.

l. A compression rail joint spring consisting of opposed members of substantially equal length and Width and connected by an integral bend, said members in Onedimension presenting-complementary parts of an elliptical formation, and the free edges of said formation being extended toward each Y;

Y other.

, rounded and extended toward each other, -and the members them-selves in one dimen- 20 l t er Y elliptical formation. b

3. A compression railjoint spring of ellip 2. A compression rail yjoint spring, consisting of opposed membersof .substantially equal length andV vWidth and connectedlat one end of one dimension by an integral bend, the free side edges of said members being sion presenting complementary parts of an tical form and comprising opposite members joined at one end by an integral bend,

the free sid-e edges of said members being rounded and extended toward each other.

In ltestimony whereof I aiix my signature i e hereto.

.JAMES n. ooWAN. 

